Carver’s History By Amanda Darlington University of Miami School of Law
In the early 1800s, there were no schools for black children in what is now known as Coconut Grove.1 In 1898 black parents in the neighborhood organized a school for their children.2 Reverend John Davis of Greater St. Paul A.M.E. Church was hired as a teacher of this small school on Charles Avenue.3 In 1924, a Coral Gables developer offered the Board of Education five acres of land on Grand Avenue and Lincoln Drive, and a newly designed nine room Spanish-styled building in exchange for an unfinished building on Le Jeune Road.4 The new school on Grand Avenue and Lincoln Drive served black students from as far away as Homestead.5 The school was known as the Dade County Training School, and housed elementary, junior, and high school-level students.6 Beginning in 1934, one high school class was added each year until the first senior class graduated in 1939.7 Francis S. Tucker, a Tuskegee University graduate, and friend of Dr. George Washington Carver, became principal of the school, then known as Coconut Grove Junior High School, in 1929.8 Dr. George Washington Carver was an American agricultural chemist, agronomist, and inventor whose development of new products derived from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans helped revolutionize the agricultural economy of the South. Dr. Carver spent most of 6
his career teaching and conducting research at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Tuskegee, Alabama.9 In 1942 – 1943, Ms. Tucker led a movement to rename the elementary and high school in the extraordinary Dr. Carver’s honor.10 George Washington Carver High School quickly became the center of community pride in Coconut Grove. Many attribute the success of Carver graduates to the school’s focus on academics and the close relationships the students shared with their teachers. While Carver’s football and basketball games enthusiastically entertained the Grove, its students’ achievements in the classroom continued to further the strength and bonds of the community. Due to federally mandated school integration, Carver High graduated its last senior class in 1966.11 Senior high school students were transferred to Coral Gables Senior High School, and the former high school became Carver Junior High.12 During the 1985 – 86 school year, Carver’s population dropped to 53% of capacity.13 After many meetings with community and school officials, Carver become a magnet school in international education.14 Since 1987, Carver has served as a magnet school housing both an international studies program and an international baccalaureate preparation program